Journal profile · Pathology
Disease Models & Mechanisms
ISSN 1754-8403 · eISSN 1754-8411 · Company of Biologists Ltd · ENGLAND · Monthly · Founded 2008
Disease Models & Mechanisms: CAS Zone 3 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.47; fully open access; APC about USD 4,250; median 187 days to acceptance (79 articles, last 24 months); 212 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Disease Models & Mechanisms is published by Company of Biologists Ltd and is in Zone 3 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Muscle Physiology and Disorders, Zebrafish Biomedical Research Applications and Mitochondrial Function and Pathology, together about 20.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Molecular Biology. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Disease Models & Mechanisms (DMM) is an Open Access biomedical research journal advancing novel insight into the mechanism, diagnosis and therapy of human disease. DMM is committed to publishing rigorously peer-reviewed research in disease biology that has significant translational impact at the interface of basic and clinical science. Our content is freely available to our communities of basic and clinical researchers, health professionals, patients and their advocates and families. DMM is interdisciplinary in scope, and covers a diverse range of diseases and experimental systems. We also publish cutting-edge methods and resources that advance the disease biology field. Examples of DMM content Research that significantly advances human disease mechanisms, diagnosis and/or treatment. Innovative methods and resources for disease biology research. Preclinical analyses of candidate therapies, including drug screens, gene therapy and other forms of therapy. Presentation of new models that have been thoroughly validated to demonstrate their utility in disease studies*. Research exploring the effects of environmental exposure - toxicants, lifestyle factors and climate change - on disease pathogenesis and mechanism. Invited expert reviews and posters addressing current and emerging themes in biomedical science Perspectives from leaders in the field. Interviews with leading scientists in translational biomedical research. Editorials addressing wider issues of interest to the community, including regulatory, ethical and policy issues. Special collections that collate articles relating to a particular disease area or model system *Descriptive work, such as the characterisation of a model system without demonstration of its usefulness to advance a field, is generally not considered for publication, unless the new model itself is considered by the Editorial team to provide an improved understanding of the disease mechanism and/or to demonstrate clear usefulness for the evaluation of treatment approaches. Model systems of interest We welcome research that utilises any system that best advances our understanding of disease mechanism, diagnosis and therapy. These include unique in vitro or ex vivo models, such as stem-cell-based models, organoids, patient material, model organisms, microorganisms, viruses, computational approaches and any other systems with relevance to human disease research. Disease areas of interest Autoimmunity and inflammation Cancer Cardiovascular
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Pathology
Editor-in-chief E. Elizabeth PattonPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 2 in mainland China (about 3%); most named United States 33, United Kingdom 22, Canada 6, Netherlands 4, Germany 3 (78 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Muscle Physiology and DisordersBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.9%
- Zebrafish Biomedical Research ApplicationsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.7%
- Mitochondrial Function and PathologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology6.6%
- Genetic Neurodegenerative DiseasesNeuroscience5.9%
- Congenital heart defects researchBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.9%
- CRISPR and Genetic EngineeringBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.6%
- Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model OrganismsBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology4.5%
- Neurogenetic and Muscular Disorders ResearchMedicine4.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Pathology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Cell Biology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Cell Biology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Medicine, Research & Experimental | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Pathology | Zone 2 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Pathology | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Cell Biology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 3.47LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 6.2LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.31LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.93LetPub ·
- h-index
- 67LetPub ·
- h-index
- 136OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,717OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 3.07OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 137LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 3,032 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 147 | 147 | 82 |
| 2025 | 212 | 212 | 460 |
| 2024 | 182 | 182 | 1,119 |
| 2023 | 222 | 222 | 1,933 |
| 2022 | 223 | 223 | 3,259 |
| 2021 | 199 | 199 | 4,111 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with PubMed · to
187 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 140 days – 229 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 54 days (79 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 237 days
- Sample
- 79 articles with submission and acceptance dates (290 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Average review time (community reports)
- 6–12 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 6 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 50 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 156 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 10 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 21 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | EUR 3,865 / GBP 3,400 / USD 4,250 | Yes | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | GBP 2,500 / USD 3,750 | — | — | |
| LetPub | GBP 2,500 / USD 3,750 | Yes | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
What to prepare6 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 180 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 3
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- Harvard
- First submission
- Free format: the journal's layout is not required
- Cover letter
- Required
Article types accepted1, with length limits
- research articleaid reproducibility. Manuscript length Research articles and Resources & Methods articles: the total length of the article should not exceed 8000 words, includi…main text ≤ 8,000 words
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship, Conflicts of interest, Preprints
- Authorship Author contributions statement
DMM uses the CRediT Taxonomy to define author contributions to primary research papers and requires that the independent contributions of each author be provided during online submission. The information provided during submission will be used to generate an author contributions statement that will be included in the final published article and should be checked at proof stage. The journal policy …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Competing interests
Include a statement to identify any potential influences that readers may need to know about when thinking about the implications of the presented research. For more specific information regarding the affiliations and associations that must be disclosed, please see our journal policies page. Authors without financial or competing interests should explicitly assert this and include the statement ‘N…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprint server
Baillie-Johnson, P., van den Brink, S. C., Balayo, T., Turner, D. A. and Martinez Arias, A. (2014). Generation of aggregates of mouse ES cells that show symmetry breaking, polarisation and emergent collective behaviour in vitro. bioRxiv doi:10.1101/005215. PhD thesis Jones, A. R. (2016). Title of thesis. PhD thesis, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Dataset with persistent identifier Zheng, L…
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Company of Biologists Ltd
- Country or region
- ENGLAND
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Founded
- 2008
- ISSN
- 1754-8403
- Electronic ISSN
- 1754-8411
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 19, Issue 8 (August 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Author guidelines ↗LetPub
- Aims & Scope ↗LetPub
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Fee waivers ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗LetPub
- Editorial board ↗LetPub
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Disease Models & Mechanisms
What CAS zone is Disease Models & Mechanisms in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Disease Models & Mechanisms is in Zone 3 of Medicine, and in Zone 2 of the minor category Pathology / Cell Biology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 3 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Disease Models & Mechanisms?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 3.47; CiteScore 6.2, h-index 136.
How long does peer review take at Disease Models & Mechanisms?
Based on the dates recorded on 79 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 187 days (interquartile range 140–229 days); authors report an average review time of 6–12 weeks. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What are the manuscript requirements of Disease Models & Mechanisms?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 180 words; Keywords: ≥ 3; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: Harvard; First submission: Free format: the journal's layout is not required; Cover letter: Required. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Disease Models & Mechanisms based?
Of the 78 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 2 (about 3%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (33), United Kingdom (22) and Canada (6). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Disease Models & Mechanisms?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Disease Models & Mechanisms is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is Disease Models & Mechanisms open access, and what is the APC?
Disease Models & Mechanisms is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 4,250.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex, DOAJ; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-25). Last updated: .